Bye, streamers

Streaming services have come up big at major awards in the past few years, including 2022 Best Picture winner CODA from Apple TV+, marking the first time a streaming service won Best Picture. However, this year’s award show belonged to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, with streamers just looking on in envy.

Overall, it’s a huge plus for linear TV, as the streamers were shut out of most of the major awards. Among the top performers, there were seven wins for Universal, five for Searchlight Pictures and two for A24 (home of Everything Everywhere All at Once, which brought home seven Oscars in 2023).

Netflix won one Academy Award this year, taking the award for Best Live Action Short Film, and there wasn’t much notable happening in streaming beyond that.

Ad sales going strong

Disney had an early indication that things were going well for ABC with another Oscars ad sales sellout, as pricing went back up in 2024.

This year’s ceremony had a variety of sponsors spanning 17 categories: apparel, auto, beverage, consumer packaged goods, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, insurance, luxury spirits, media and entertainment, pet care, pharmaceutical, retail, streaming, technology and telecom.  

Plus, there were several brand firsts in the show, such as Don Julio having the first brand integration in a Kimmel comedy bit.

During the ceremony, Diageo (Don Julio’s parent company) pulled off a viral marketing stunt, introducing its Don Julio 1942 Tequila 50-milliliter bottle as Kimmel’s sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, toasted with Best Actor nominee Colman Domingo and gave tequila shots to audience members.

In an ADWEEK exclusive, we learned that Kimmel, a long-standing partner of Diageo for more than 13 years, was a critical part of the stunt and pitched the idea, according to Teni Melidonian, chief Oscars officer, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

If anything, the tequila is just another reason to toast to ABC.